In Love With Photography

Since I began a serious effort at building up a portfolio of nature photography, my focus has been primarily on landscapes. Photographing the grand scenic vistas of the mountains and canyonlands is what got me started on nature photography, and while I have occasionally tried my hand at some wildlife and even portrait work, landscapes have been my main interest. I drew my inspiration from legendary photographers like Ansel Adams, Galen Rowell, and contemporaries like Art Wolfe. But my artistic goal of freezing brief moments of time, and preserving the beauty that our natural environment shares with us, is equally served by other genres of photography. My love of nature and the natural world began at a very young age, observing and learning about the plants and critters that surrounded me as I played in fields and forests as a child. This incessant curiosity with the natural world never left me, it has just been resting and waiting for the right time to emerge from sleep.

I met fellow photographer Susie Binkley online, after some of my photography was shared on a national park Facebook Page. We both share an intense interest in the natural world, especially the bugs and flowers, the weather, and the vastness of space beyond our own atmosphere. Her style is very different from mine. While I concentrated on big landscapes, hiking in the dark to wake up to sunrises at mountain lakes, her photography explored the smaller world. She captured the squirrels, the deer, and the flowers that sprung from the forest floor. She would spend hours kneeling or lying down, just to get unique and intimate views of the world at our feet.

Our favorite pastime (aside from eating chocolate and drinking raspberry ale 😉 ) has been to go on hikes at the local parks and open spaces that make living in Eastern Colorado so unique and exciting. Watching Susie work her craft has been where my love of the little things has reawakened. I suddenly found myself following in her footsteps, taking the time to patiently stop, wait, listen, observe, and capture those unique moments that make our natural world so enriching and joyous.

And so my love of the little things–of all that nature has to offer–has been reawakened, and my life is fuller and richer to have rediscovered my childhood spirit. I found it by discovering a love to share with a fellow photographer and artist. I see many wonderful things waiting for us to discover ahead in this marvelous place we call home.